The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has today responded to a new report by the Alcohol Health Alliance, which claims that multi-national alcohol companies are choosing to ignore advice from the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) to display important health information on their products.
Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said, “The report from the Alcohol Health Alliance quite wrongly suggests that only 47% of labels adhered to the industry’s own best practice. All alcohol categories met the 80% pledge and UK brewers exceeded the target with a compliance rate of 86.5% in terms of total alcohol.
“For many years, the British Beer & Pub Association and our members have been very proactive in providing alcohol and health related information. Beyond the billion unit pledge, which saw a billion units of alcohol removed from the market, the sector has also run a successful awareness campaign on units of alcohol.
“Of course, label changes take time and are costly, but all our members are working with the Department of Health to remove the out of date daily guidance by the end of September 2019. In the future, labels will include ABV, units in bottle or can, a pregnancy warning and a link to Drinkaware. The new weekly guidance is complicated and about much more than just 14 units a week. Drinkaware provide all the details and a link to the guidance themselves.”